the garden of emeralds

Ardath, Saskatchewan, Canada

Ardath took its name from the British novel Ardath: The Story of a Dead Self by Marie Corelli and earned its money through agriculture, mostly wheat. The Ardath United Church (above) and the town hall were both built in 1912. Ardath began its decline starting in 1919 when a train crashed through one of its grain elevators killing three. A few years later, a fire destroys most of main street causing a large amount of the population to move away. In 1931, a man murders another man believing him to be someone else and then burns down a house in series of dramatic events contributed to Ardath’s downfall.